St. Landry democrat. (Opelousas, La.) 1878-1894, 1887-07-09
SOMETHING FOR THE PEOPLE OF
LOUISIANA TO REMEMBER.
shreveport Times.

81 hure considered the "t""hoH
! horouqhIy and there is int one ~nD 10
s-,cceed, hit it wW be necessary to DO
some Mings Which are re1U rcp"ghdW /"
me, and Which mW make ne the most M
D0puiot man III tie State. BHt hGtc
made M uy mind to make TIE SGcfUlCr,
! and I ,rU succeed. "-Gen. +. l. Nichols
to Hon. NJ. j. Cunningham, now at
| torney general.
We ask the people who read the
| Times, and who believe 1t to be a SIN
cere and honest journal, to give caroiui
attention to the words we have quoted
10 the above extract. lhGy are 'ne
words of patriot and Democrat
they are words of IL Nam! At the crl-
| teal turning point in the long history
! of orr dark days, when good govern
| ment was eclipsed, and the only bright
spot on our political horizon was the
| hone that Nichols, the Standard bearer
| of the people, would in the end sue
! coed. the patriotic uttelance We have
! quoted came from the lips OF the only
| man in the State whose self-SacrltcG
would be of any avail IN furtherlng the
| interests of the people. Here was the
! governor of the State-the representa-
| tive of the virtue and intelligence and
! chivalry of Louisiana, the man to
I
| ance from the thraldOm Of ten long,
| weary years,-who saw clearly that the
| road to success lay through Il course of
! conduct, to pursue which wOuld render
! the governor the most unpopular man
! in the State. Did Gen. Nichols hest
! tate? Did he seek to retain his pOpu-
| larity, and endanger the success Of
, good government No. He appointed
| Observation-Disclosures ones, TOTO
office, i'll order that he might placate
| Northern antagonisn, which was tor
| ever clamoring that the installation OF
| the Democratic government IN LOU
! siana meant humiliation to the negro
and the Republican party throughout
! those DAYS know full well that the best,
! the wisest and the bravest OF our
| Democratic cheftaiDs. whether from
| the praires of the Alta kapas, the val
| leys of the Mississippi, the Red and the
! Ouachita, or the hills OF north L0ul-
| siana, urged the pursuance OF the very
policy for which General Nichols is
| censured to-day. In those days of
| peril and dsquiet, no patriotic man III
| Louisiana retired to bis couch Tree
| from the fear that the morning would
| bring news of the recognition or the
| Packard government, and the com
plete subjugation Of the people OF the
! State. Aud every day the question was
asked in an undertone, 'What Is the
! best thing for Us to do 1t was at
! this iuncture that General Nichols saw
| that the Wisest move to make was the
recognition of the Radical negro ele-
ment in the State so as to remove from
! the Northern mind the fear OF the an
| Inhalation of the negro, which lear
alone operated to keep us from ENJOY
| ing the full fruits of the victory OF
| 1876. And did time vindlcate the Wis
| dom of General Nichols, course We
won the fight, did we not: And we
| hold the State government to-day, 90
we note Is this ii sufficient answer:
! Yes time has indicated the wisdom OF
| Gen. Nichols, but it has brought some
curious changes In the year of Our
| Lord, 1887, (would you believe lt?)
! Nichols is attacked on the very policy
! that won the fight ten years ago
Yes, States as we'll as republics are
sometimes ungratetul; the sacrifice OF
| ten wears ago is framed aS IA bill OF IN
| dictment day, and he who sacrificed
! himself is to be tired tor making the
! sacrifice? And some good people IN
/ Louisiana have been brought to be
| lieve that the evidence Is sufficient to
| convict the patriot, who SAID ten years
| ago that 1t was necessary 10 40 some
| things that would make him the most
| unpopular man in the State but that he
| would do it, and save his people.
! 1t is not our good fortune to nave
| known General Nichols personality tor
! any great length OF time, out he I'M
. presses us more and more as man the
] delcacy and refinement OF whose ma
ture has hitherto operated to deter HIM
| from Dublishiug to the world full and
| effective replies to the calumnies that
have been heaped upon HIM. The
| Times, for one, insists that the people
| should demand of General Nichols that
he lay aside these considerations OF too
extreme delicacy, and give to the Demo
cracy of the State the full history OF
every appointment and every act which
has subjected him to criticism. Nheth-
er the evidence in these matters III
volve the living or the dead, the people
ask that they be put in possession OF
every fact and every circumstance.
Gen. Nichols sacrificed himself once
for the sake of good government in
Louisiana Now we insist that for the
sake of Francis T. Nichols Cor that
part of him which came bac k from the
battlefelds of the Confederacy) he
give to the world every detail connec-
ted with every transaction upon which
his enemies SO delight to dwell.
This information, we teel sure, VIII
be forthcoming. But meanwhile we
ask the readers of the Times to recur
again and again to the words that pre-
face this article. Can the man who ut,
tered these patriotic words make bad
governor of Louisiana